Johto Journey's
by Kyokon-n
Summary: Join Kyoko as her and her two siblings start their pokemon journey! She'll get into lots of trouble and possibly save the entire region on her long awaited travels through Johto, in an action packed and possibly romantic story!
1. Chapter 1

" _Hand me that." Ethan said, sticking his hand out. His head and torso were wedged under the long rectangular water trough attached to the New Bark Pokemon Lab. It was currently empty, a pipe had broken and we were trying to fix it, or_ he _was. I handed him the wrench I had in my hand and debated messing with him while he was stuck under there, but I contemplated too long. By the time I decided, he scooted himself from under the water basin. His face was dirty, and his shirt was stained with drips of water._

" _Turn it on." He ordered, standing up._

" _Only if you stop being so bossy." I grumbled, turning the faucet on. A stream of clear water poured out, and Ethan sighed in relief. "We did it!" I cheered._

"I _did it." Ethan corrected, pushing me affectionately with a smirk on his face._

" _I helped," I shoved him back. Our playful banter soon turned into a competitive shoving match, and we each took turns getting dunked in the pokemon water trough until we were soaked._

" _What's going on?" Professor Elm, well, Ethan's dad, came out of the back door of the lab, only to stop and stare at the muddy mess we made._

" _He did it!" I pointed at Ethan, jabbing his dirty cheek with my finger._

" _No way, she started it!" Ethan shot back. He started to retort further, but Professor Elm interrupted him._

" _Well, your game will have to wait. We need to get your trainer information ready for when you challenge the gyms," He explained, then looked at me. "Kyoko, you can go home for the day. Thanks for the help, and you'll come back tomorrow?" He asked, and I nodded. "Thank you, I'll need a lot more help now that Ethan is leaving." He said with a friendly smile._

" _See, I helped." I smirked at Ethan, who only glared. "Sure, Professor," I said as I turned to his dad. "Bye". I said it with a smile, but my good mood was gone. Ethan was leaving, and I couldn't go with him. My mom wouldn't let any of my siblings go on a journey around Johto, any time I mentioned it she snapped and said I would never become a pokemon trainer. Ethan and I wanted to go together, but no matter how much we begged, she always said no. My shoulders sagged as I walked to the gate in wet clothes and soggy shoes._

" _Kyoko, wait!" Ethan ran to me, his sneakers squishing the entire way. He pulled me into a hug once he got close enough, "We'll travel together eventually Kyo-yo, even if I have to go around Johto twice." He said it out of sympathy, we both knew the chances of us traveling together was slim at best._

 _I was thankful he couldn't see my face as tears pooled into my eyes, and I quickly wiped them away as I separated myself from him. "Yeah," I sniffled._

" _Come by tomorrow so I can see you before I leave." Ethan instructed, then shoved me. "Now, get out of here, I'm busy." He joked._

…

I stared out of my window, behind the lab and at the pokemon water trough I helped fix several years ago.

" _I haven't seen Ethan in forever…"_ I thought sadly, but perked myself up by remembering I was going to be traveling today. Traveling across Johto has always been a dream of mine, but I wanted to leave New Bark Town so much more after my best friend Ethan left over a year ago.

" _Maybe I'll see him soon!"_ I thought to myself as I ran downstairs. I was ready to go over an hour ago, but neither of my siblings had even woken up yet. My mom was sitting in the living room, curled up on the couch reading a book. She looked up at me and smiled, "Oh, good morning Kyoko! You're awake much earlier than I thought you would be. I knew you were excited about leaving, but you haven't been up before noon in a long time!" She teased.

"Moooo _ooooom._ " I complained, flopping on the couch next to her. "Haru and Hikari aren't awake yet, _I'm going to die!"_ I wailed, rolling myself off the couch.

"Don't be so dramatic, not everyone wakes up as soon as the Noctowl's go to sleep." She giggled.

"You do." I pointed out, spreading myself out on the floor.

"A mother's duty. And I knew you would be awake anyway." She said, looking down at me.

"Hey!" I yelled. Mom jumped, but I gathered myself off of the floor too quickly to see her reaction. "I'll wake them up myself!" I scrambled to the kitchen and began digging in the drawers. I pulled out a metal mixing bowl and a serving spoon and grinned evilly at my mother, who was now leaning against the counter. She only shook her head, but I saw her smile.

"WAKEEE UUUU _PPPPPP!"_ I screamed, running up and down the hallway, beating the bowl with the spoon. "Get up get up get up get up!" I howled, laughing until I tripped over the pant leg of my eeveelution pajamas. The serving spoon slid down the hallway back to the kitchen and the metal bowl landed on my head, but I only laid on the floor laughing.

"What in Arceus' name are you doing?" Hikari's door flew open, and my sleepy and very angry sister stomped out. She wore a soft pink nightgown, and her lavender hair was pulled up in a messy bun. "Do you know what time it is!" She shouted, kicking the metal bowl my head was under. I got up, dazed and dizzy, and took the bowl off in time to see her slam the door. "I'll get out of bed when I'm good and ready!" She yelled through the door.

I wiggled myself on the floor back to my mom, who was laughing so hard tears pooled in her eyes. "You three kids are certainly the personality of this house." She wiped her eyes, but helped me up, "Kyoko, I just remembered! The Professor stopped by earlier. He said he wanted you to help him finish up a few things before you left for today. He's in the lab, he told me to tell you to just stop by whenever you woke up." She put the bowl and spoon away, "Go get changed and head over there." She said, pushing me in the direction towards my room.

"You just don't want me to make any more noise." I said, running towards my room.

"That too!" She shouted up to me.

 **Break**

I had been helping Professor Elm for a few years, but it became a part time job after Ethan left a year ago to challenge the Pokemon Leauge. The Professor had an assistant, but he normally had his own branch of research to work on and didn't help the Professor much. I didn't actually get paid, I worked to earn the pokemon and pokedex my siblings and I would use when we left on our pokemon journey. The work wasn't hard, and I would have done it for free just to learn more about pokemon. Besides, it gave me something to do after Ethan left. Besides Haru and Hikari, Ethan and I were the only other teenagers in New Bark Town. There were a few other kids, and I knew people from Cherrygrove, but that was a long walk and the kids here were much younger than me. There wasn't much to do or many people in New Bark Town, which only made me want to leave more.

I quickly changed out of my pajamas so I wouldn't keep the Professor waiting. I didn't put too much effort into how I looked since most of the work I did for the Professor was physical labor anyway. I grabbed a set of clothes from my closet and changed into them, then shoved my feet into a pair of sneakers. I ran a brush through my tangled hair, wincing as the brush sagged my knotty hair. I ran to the mirror to look myself over as I finished brushing my hair, then put my light pink hair into a ponytail, before deciding against it and letting it fall down past my shoulders. I wore my usual clothes, jeans, with a black tank top with a black and gray athletic jacket over it. I smiled widely in the mirror before running down the stairs, quickly yelling a goodbye to my mom as I ran out of the door.

 **Break**

I jogged to the lab, and since it was next door I was there before I was even out of breath. The Professor's assistant sat at a desk near the door, staring intently at an egg sitting in front of him.

"Where's the Professor?" I asked, walking over to him.

"In the back," He mumbled, not bothering to look up from the egg. As he started scribbling notes, I shrugged and walked through the lab. Bookshelves and pokemon diagrams lined the walls, several tables filled with notes were scattered throughout the room. Against the back wall was a huge machine for healing pokemon, and a hooked up to it was a computer that the Professor was furiously typing on.

"Professor?" I said, tapping him on the shoulder. He squealed girlishly and toppled over in the chair before scrambling up and greeting me.

"Hello, Kyoko! Sorry, you gave me quite the scare, I was so focused on my work I didn't hear you come in!" He adjusted his glasses and scratched his balding head. I only smiled widely, I was so used to the Professor's scatterbrained personality that it didn't surprise me. "I was hoping you'd be here soon, and here you are!" He said cheerfully.

"What did you need help for?" I asked curiously, looking around. The only thing it looked like he needed help with was _cleaning_.

"I would appreciate your help finishing a few things before you and you brother and sister leave today. Are you excited to finally get a pokemon?" He asked, and I cheerfully nodded. He turned around to pick up a few papers before patting his lab coat pocket to find and then hand me a pen. "Here, fill these out please."

"Of course!" I exclaimed, glancing down at the papers he handed me. "I've been waiting for forever to get a pokemon, I'm definitely going to choose-" I was cut off as the phone program on the Professor's computer began ringing. A picture and a name I didn't recognize popped up, but the Professor went wide eyed and jumped to answer it.

"It's probably Mr. Pokemon, hold on a minute, will you Kyoko?" He asked, waiting for me to answer before picking up the phone. "I'm sure this would only take a minute, why don't you fill out those forms?" He suggested, turning around and placing the phone to his ear. "Hello, good to hear from you!" He said. I studied the forms, they were just the basic questions that would make the Trainer Cards as accurate as possible. I looked around to find an empty space to write on, before sighing and using a side of the closest bookshelf to fill in the name, birthday, and hometown spaces for myself, Haru and Hikari.

I had just finished the last of the paperwork when Professor Elm sigh and exclaim, "Oh, this is terrible!" I tried not to worry, but his expression was concerning. He only tightened his lips and shook his head, "I understand completely," He paused to wait for a response, "These things just happen," My mind raced to think of the best logical scenario, but my worrying only got worse when he said one last goodbye, then hung up the phone.

"Kyoko," He started, sitting down in his desk chair and looking up at me. I handed him the forms, but he only swiveled in his chair and set the papers and pen down. "My acquaintance, Mr. Pokemon, was supposed to deliver your pokemon. But he can't come to New Bark Town anymore, he said he was in the middle of urgent business and couldn't leave."

"So, what does that mean?" I asked.

"You can't leave without your pokemon," He explained, "I can't let you wander around the region without anything to protect you."

"You don't have them here?" I felt my shoulders sag as he shook his head.

"Not since New Bark has had a thief lurking around, I can't keep such rare pokemon in a small laboratory like this." He explained, "It would be too easy for them to get stolen." He scooted towards me in his chair and put his hand on my shoulder, "I'm sorry. I know how much you've been looking forward to this since Ethan left."

I shook my head, "It's not your fault." I stated, but even I could hear the disappointment in my voice. "I'll go home, I guess. I waited this long, I can wait a little longer…" I gave him a fake smile, but Professor Elm knew how devastating this was to me. I said goodbye, and the Professor apologized one more time as I went home to go sulk.

 **Break**

As I dragged myself through the front door, Mom was still reading on the couch but now Haru and a very sleepy Hikari were sitting with her. Hikari was sprawled out on the couch, and Haru was sitting in an armchair reading a pokemon trainers manual. I slumped into the other chair, and Haru and my Mom looked up, but surprised at my awful mood.

"You're back early Kyoko," Mom noticed as she put a bookmark in what she was reading. "Whatever the Professor wanted must not have taken long. What's wrong?" She asked, concern in her voice as I slumped into the chair.

"We're not getting our pokemon," I said dully, "The Professor doesn't have them and they can't be delivered."

"What?!" Hikari shrieked shrilly, "He's had months to prepare, why doesn't he have them?" She asked angrily, her lavender hair sticking up in every direction as she glared at me.

"You know how the Professor is." Haru said pointedly. "He's so scatterbrained, I'm not surprised this has happened." He said matter of factually, putting his trainer's manual down and pushing his glasses up his nose.

"It's not his fault!" I shot back. "Since we've been having some criminal activity lately the Professor decided not to keep our pokemon here. He was just as upset as we are." I explained, but nobody seemed much happier.

"I have a suggestion," Mom put in, sipping on a mug of tea. "Why don't you three go get your pokemon yourselves? It will show you're dedicated and responsible trainers." She asked, smiling at me. "It can't be that far away if they were going to be delivered today." She added.

"You're a _genius!"_ I cheered, and my good mood reappeared as I stood up, but Hikari and Haru didn't look as thrilled as I did.

"Uhg, count me out," Hikari huffed, fixing her hair as she continued talking, "I'm not about to do the Professor's job for him."

"I agree." Haru chimed in, "What would he learn if we solved his problem for him?" He asked, giving me a sideways glance, "He should have planned better. _We're_ prepared, and this is his job."

"Sometimes you have to take matters into your own hands!" I announced, but Mom was the only one who looked as if she agreed. "I'm going whether you two are coming with me or not!" I exclaimed. I ran back to the door, "I'll be back soon!" I shouted as I ran out of the door to tell the Professor what I had decided.

 **Break**

The Professor was surprised to see me again, but happily obliged to give me directions to Mr. Pokemon's house. His house wasn't far, just past Cherrygrove City, and Professor Elm told me it was only a half an hours walk there. On the way out, his Assistant working by the door stopped his work only long enough to hand me a pokeball and a map. "The map is in case you get lost," He explained, "The pokeball is in case any wild pokemon jumps out at you. You probably won't catch it, but you'll have time to escape." He said as he gave me both items.

"Thanks, both of these will be good to have," I replied as I shoved both things in my jacket pocket. He smiled at me and wished me luck before going back to his work, but both him and the Professor called out a faint goodbye as I left.

 **Break**

I had been walking down Route 29 for a while now, and to keep me entertained I tried to look for as many of the different pokemon that lived on the route as I could. Hoothoot's and Pidgey's flew over the treetops ahead, and I saw the occasional Sentret and Furret running through the grass. I knew my way to Cherrygrove City, but past that to Mr. Pokemon's house was new to me so I pulled the map the Professor's Assistant gave me out of my pocket and tried to find my way as I kept walking. He was kind enough to scribble directions and circle the house I was looking for, and I had just found the trail North to his house a I felt something squish under my shoe.

" _I stepped on a bug!"_ I thought to myself as I looked down, but my relief turned into disgust as I lifted my foot and saw gooey pieces of an Oran Berry stuck to my shoe. I groaned and started wiping my shoe clean on the ground, but my sticky shoe became the least of my worries as I heard a pokemon begin to growl behind me. I turned around slowly and clutched the map in my hand as I saw an angry Furret on it's hind legs, snarling and baring its sharp teeth at me. Standing up it was about the same height as me, and I noticed several more Oran berries near its feet, along with it's paws and muzzle stained a deep blue. It flopped down to all fours, and dug it's claws into the ground before slowly lumbering towards me, still growling and clearly very angry.

"It's ok," I said quietly, slowly trying to back up and keep a reasonable distance between me and the wild pokemon. The map in my hand became a crumpled mess as I continued to back up, but the Furret showed no signs of giving up.

Then, it lunged at me, knocking me over onto my back, with it on top of me. I felt the berry I had stepped on flattened under my back, and tried to hold the map in front of me to keep from getting scratched, but it was quickly torn to pieces. I started screaming once the map was torn to shreds, and struggled and wiggled to try to get it off me as I felt claws rip into my arm and jacket, and teeth grazing my face. I kicked and tried pushing the pokemon off me, but I was quickly losing my strength and the Furret was only getting angrier at my retaliation. I tried to hold Its muzzle away from me, but I felt its claws dig into my chest harder until I gasped in pain and let go.

" _What am I going to do!"_ I thought to myself, " _My journey's going to end before it begins!"_

 ** _Author's Note:_** _I hope you enjoyed this! This is a rewrite of the original Johto Journey's I uploaded, and I'm planning on adding a lot more to the story as Kyoko gets farther inher journey. If you have any characters you'd like to be added, PM me or leave it in the reviews and I'll do my best to add them into the story!_


	2. Chapter 2

Despite my shrill screams, somewhere in front of me I heard another pokemon's cry, and a trainer's voice ordering an attack. The Furret went from raging to sleeping instantly, and became nothing but dead weight as it collapsed on top of me. I was able to roll the pokemon off of me, and breathed a sigh of relief as I sat up to catch my breath and inspect the damage that came from the attack. My chest and face stung, even without looking I could tell I had deep gashes from Furret's teeth and claws. My shirt and jacket both hung in tattered shreds, my jacket was shredded around me and what little clothing I had left hung on my shoulders loosely. My jeans were in much better condition, I only a few scratches and rips on my upper thighs.

"Hey, are you okay?" I heard someone ask, and I finally looked up to see who had saved me. Even from sitting, I could tell he was tall, over a good head taller than me. He looked a few years older than me, not quite an adult but definitely not a young teenager. His long, dirty blonde hair was tied back with a long purple headband, thought it kept the majority pulled back a few strands fell over his forehead. His eyes were a deep purple, I could see from where I was sitting they were filled with concern for my current state. He wore a black sweater, white jeans, and a purple scarf that matched his headband was lazily draped around his neck. Over his sweater was a lightweight gray parka to protect him from the cool weather. The Gengar that had saved me was grinning crazily, running in circles around the man who stared down at me.

He squatted down and stuck his hand out, "Hey, are you okay?" He asked. I nodded, then stopped staring and grabbed his hand to help pull myself up. As I stood up and looked him in the eye for the first time, a slight blush crossed his face and he began to stammer, "You're, uh, are you okay?" He repeated.

"Mostly…" I trailed off as I looked down at my chest and arms, "Just some scratches and my clothes are ruined." I touched my face and looked back up at him, "Thanks for that, I don't know what I would have done if you weren't here." I confessed as I brushed the dirt off my back and zipped up what little bit of my jacket I had left.

"I heard you scream, what happened?" He asked, looking at my scratches. " _If I wasn't just attacked by a pokemon I would have been self conscious of him staring my my chest."_ I thought to myself, but quickly dismissed the thought as he continued, "I didn't think a Furret would be that aggressive." He said, motioning to the still sleeping pokemon. His Gengar had ran to it's side, and had begun to poke it until it's trainer called it back over. It waddled back quickly, chattering loudly until is trainer shushed it sharply.

"I was looking at my map and stepped on an Oran Berry," I explained, "Then it got mad and just attacked me." I looked down at the ripped paper and clothing under me, and began to panic, "Oh no," I gasped, and the trainer in front of me quickly asked what was wrong.

"I was going to pick up something for Professor Elm, but I don't know the way past Cherrygrove City!" I wailed, and felt my face get hot as tears began to form, this was _not_ how today was supposed to go!

"Hey, it's okay," He reached out to touch a part of my shoulder that wasn't scratched. "Where are you going, I've been all over Johto I might know where it is." He offered as I sniffled.

"Mr. Pokemon's house…" I sniffled, and he lifted my chin up.

"Yeah, I know where it is," He said gently, "Just go to the end of Route 20, it's not a long walk at all." He explained, and smiled as I nodded. I couldn't help smiling too, " _He has a nice smile,"_ I thought, and my focus was on his smile until his smile vanished and he repeated himself. "Are you a trainer?" He asked again.

"Oh, yeah. I'm actually leaving today, my supplies are at Mr. Pokemon's house." I said, and he began patting his Gengar between the ears to keep him still. "Are you a trainer too?" I asked him.

He chucked and his Gengar bellowed deeply, beating its chest and chattering, "You could say that," He said slyly.

 _"Weird,"_ I thought, but I didn't say anything. "I better get going, though," I decided, "I have a lot of walking to do, and I need to get my stuff and get back to my hometown."

"Oh… He said suddenly, and seemed disappointed, and even his cheerfully Gengar drooped once I said one last thanks to him. "You're right, that's a lot of walking." He mumbled, and we both waved goodbye as I turned towards my destination. But with my back turned, I didn't see how he stared at me as I left.

 **Break**

I continued to make my way down Route 29, but a lot more carefully than I was before. I did my best to hold my shirt and jacket together, and tried to ignore the stinging on my face and chest. I was cautious, and I laughed at how paranoid I was being until I heard footsteps behind me. I didn't stop walking, but after I became aware of it, my pace quickened and I began to panic. I thought back to the pokemon who attacked me, " _I'm just paranoid,"_ I thought, " _Getting mauled by a pokemon can do that to a person."_ I paused, and tried to catch my breath as I began to tremble. After stopping, the footsteps behind me got louder and closer, and I could feel the heartbeat quicken as the thing following me got closer. I was frozen in place until I remembered the pokeball the Professor's Assistant gave me, and prayed to Arceus it hadn't fallen out. I dug into my pocket and felt the smooth round ball, and clicked the button to enlarge it with it still inside my pocket.

" _Focus,"_ I thought to myself, and tried to stop shaking. I quickly whirled around, and threw the ball as hard as I could directly in front of me. I clenched my eyes shut, preparing to be attacked again, but instead I heard a surprised cry and the maniacal laugh of a Gengar. I opened my eyes and stood in shock, in front of me was the guy from before and his pokemon, rolling around on the ground laughing as his trainer rubbed his cheek.

"That really hurt!" He cried out, rubbing where the pokeball impacted with his face. "You have one hell of a pitching arm. After coming all this way to make sure you're okay, and you're throwing pokeballs at me!" He whined, then snorted at my dumbfounded look. The pokeball left a large red mark on his face, and would probably lead to a bruise.

"I thought you were a pokemon!" I sputtered. "I thought you were a pokemon chasing me!" I exclaimed, before giving him a confused look. "What are you doing here, anyway?" I asked him.

"Gengar….My, uh, Gengar was worried about you." He mumbled, trailing off his sentence as his face turned red and he pushed some dirt around with his shoe. His pokemon stopped wiggling around on the ground to sit up and glare at his trainer with a look that clearly said, "That's not true."

"Really," I smirked, " _Gengar_ was the one worried." I asked, walking over to both and squatting to look at Gengar face to face. "Well, if you're so worried then why don't you come with me?" I asked it, opening my arms out for the ghost pokemon. I started giggling as Gengar began chattering and wiggling before jumping into my arms, but his trainer whined in protest. I scooped up Gengar, and with it's levitate ability it was surprisingly light. I lightly shushed the pokemon and completely ignored it's trainer, walking away and trying to hold in my giggles. I only got a few steps before the stolen pokemon's trainer yelled for me to wait, and quit pouting to catch up to me. Gengar stuck it's tongue out at it's trainer, who shoved his hands in his pockets and glared at his pokemon.

"You said you were going to Mr. Pokemon's house, right?" He asked, and waited for me to nod. "I could… go with you? It's on my way, It's just outside of Violet City." He said, blushing slightly as he asked.

I giggled again, "Sure, it would be nice to have some company."

"Gengar really was the one who wanted to find you." He huffed. Gengar angrily chattered at his trainer, who called his pokemon a traitor. "Look how much he likes you," He tried to say, but his pokemon began clicking and chattering louder to block out his trainer. His trainer sighed and Gengar licked my cheek.

"Sure," I teased, "What's your name, I don't think you've told me?" I asked him, and he nodded, almost as if to avoid answering the question.

"Morty," He said finally, straightening up and focusing on the path in front of us. "What's yours?" He asked, to take the attention away from himself.

"Kyoko… Morty sounds kinda familiar…" I thought outloud, but the reaction I got confirmed my suspicion. He stiffened up, and completely dismissed my thoughts.

"I can't imagine why," He said suddenly, his demeanor changed from calm to almost irritated, even _angry._ " _Do I know him from somewhere?"_ I thought as I looked over to him. His face was calm, but too calm after his actions to be genuine. After a few steps he looked down at me, but I couldn't read his expression. "Kyoko is a pretty name." He said with a slight smile, but it was obvious he wanted to change the subject.

"Thanks," I said gently, then asked him how far away Cherrygrove City was.

"Right up ahead," He pointed, and Gengar wiggled and cackled in my arms before pointing with his trainer. I could hear the bustle of the small city, and despite everything I had already been through, I smiled in excitement at the thought I was a little closer to becoming a trainer.

 **Break**

I wanted to just pass through Cherrygrove City, but Morty insisted Nurse Joy look at my scratches. "It won't take long," He assured me, "And I need to heal my pokemon anyway." He said as he dragged me through the automatic doors of the PokeCenter. I groaned as we got up to the counter, and my loud complaining caught Nurse Joy's attention from the computer. She gasped and stood up from her rolling chair, and ran to behind the counter to ask me what happened.

"Nothing!" I snapped at her, giving Morty an irritated glare as he explained what actually happened. I tried to assure her I was fine, but Joy dismissed my insisting and told me to sit down in the lobby and wait for her to go get medical supplies. I thought about leaving as she ran to the back room with a Chansey close behind, but Morty grabbed me by the arm and pulled me onto a couch in the center of the lobby. Gengar jumped out of my arms to plop down beside me, and began wiggling his legs and chanting as Nurse Joy ran past the counter and over to us. Morty stood awkwardly near the arm of the couch to give Joy some room, and she kneeled in front of me and began gingerly removing the pieces of clothing stuck to my skin with blood. I winced, but ignored the pain until she soaked a cotton ball with alcohol and swiped it across my face.

"Ow!" I yowled, and leaned back on the couch so she couldn't reach my face. I rested an elbow on the couch arm, and looked up to glare at Morty, but His attention was focused _lower_ than my face. I realized how much of my chest was showing after I noticed him staring, and lifted my arm from the armrest to slap him lightly on the lower side of his face to get his attention. "What are you staring at," I asked him, and his gaze shot up and his face got red.

"Nothing!" He stammered, "I'm just making you're getting proper medical attention!"

"Do you think I'm not going to take care of her?" Nurse Joy giggled as she rubbed another cotton ball on my chest. I clenched the couch cushion in pain, "I know you care about your girlfriend, Morty, but I promise I'll do my job."

"We're not dating" We both exclaimed, and that only caused Nurse Joy to laugh louder.

She began digging in her medical box and pulled out some tape, "Yet," She whispered to me, and giggled some more. Gengar began floating around the room, and I focused on Gengar to distract myself as she began taping the bigger scratches shut. "You're all done!" She said cheerfully, and stood up with her medical box. "I have some clothes you can put on, you can't go walking around outside in that!" She said, motioning for me to follow her. I glared at Morty one more time before trailing behind Joy, following her past the front desk and down a hallway. She stopped at a closet and rummaged around it until she pulled out a black shirt with a pokeball on the front and a pair of faded jeans.

"They're a little generic," She apologized as she handed them to me, "But it's better than what you have on, right?" She added, "You can change in this room over here," She said, unlocking a nearby door and opening it for me with a smile.

"Thanks," I said, slipping into the room and closing the door behind me. The shirt was a little too big, the 'short' sleeves ended at my elbows, and the jeans were threadbare, but both things were soft and felt much more comfortable than the ruined clothes I had. I tossed my old clothes in a nearby trash can and made my way down the hallway, only to come out and see an angry Gengar, an exasperated Morty, and a Joy who was laughing so hard tears ran down her face.

I came from behind the front desk and asked Morty what was going on, but he only kept his focus on Gengar. "Get in your pokeball!" Morty ordered, but Gengar only angrily chattered and ran towards me. "Get in!" He shouted as I picked up his pokemon, and seeing how irritated he looked and how tightly he gripped his belt full of pokemon, I knew how mad he was.

"Gengar,Gen!" It squealed, laughing at Morty's scowl. " _I hope my pokemon don't act like this…"_ I thought, but Morty took the opportunity and recalled the pokemon I had in my arms. Gengar howled as he was returned, and Morty let out an exasperated sigh as he clipped his pokeball to his belt and handed them to Joy, who had finally composed herself.

"What's going on?" I asked, looking around.

"He won't listen to me," Morty shook his head as Nurse Joy walked to the back room, and I moved to stand at the front desk with him.

"Maybe he doesn't like it?" I offered, trying not to giggle at his troubles. Nurse Joy came back quickly, and handed his belt back, which he then wove back around his waist.

He crossed his arms and waited, "We should probably get going if you want to get to Mr. Pokemon's house," He said, but he had lost his calm demeanor.

"Don't pout," I teased as I grabbed the sleeve of his jacket and pulled him towards the door.

"I'm doing no such thing," He mumbled, but I saw him smile as we left the PokeCenter.

 **Break**

Morty and I joked around as we walked down Route 30, but something had been in the back of my mind ever since we left the PokeCenter.

"Morty?" I asked, suddenly serious.

"Yeah?" He asked, looking down at me.

"How did Nurse Joy know your name? I don't remember you ever telling her." I said, and he coughed nervously.

"No reason," He said quickly, "I'm just in this area a lot." He finished, jamming his hands in his pockets and looking straight forward.

"Do you live around here?" I pressed on. I had never seen him before, but he could have easily lived in Cherrygrove or Violet City.

"No." He said flatly. It was clear he didn't want to talk about it, but I ignored his bad mood. I felt like he wasn't being completely honest with me, not exactly lying, but not telling me the whole truth either. There was an awkward silence between us for a minute before he quietly explained that he lived in Ecruteak.

"I'm from New Bark Town," I offered, and he nodded, but still seemed grumpy. I dismissed his awkwardness, thinking it was just because we met and that was it. I decided not to ask any more questions, and started blowing my hair out of my face again. We walked in silence for a minute, but then a huge gust of wind blew and gave me a cold reminder of how I didn't have a jacket. I wrapped my arms around my chest and kept walking, as I was trying to suck it up I didn't notice Morty unzipping his jacket and draping it over my shoulders. I wrapped it around me with a small smile, and he looked down at me and returned my smile, brushing my thanks off with a wave of the hand.

"You don't have a jacket, what kind of gentlemen would I be if I didn't give you mine?" He joked, his good mood returned. I slipped my arms through the sleeves and zipped it up, and once I had it on I was thankful he gave it to me. The wind had picked up and was blowing my hair in all directions, and as I try to smoothed it down I regretted not tying my hair back this morning. I groaned, but as I looked ahead, I saw a house that matched Professor Elm's description.

"Hey, that's where I need to go," I said, pointing ahead. The wind flipped my hair across my vision, but through the pink flurry I thought I saw Morty noticeably droop.

"I should probably get going anyway," He replied sullenly. I unzipped the jacket he just gave me, but he shook his head. "You keep it. It's a reminder of me," He winked, and began walking towards another trail towards Violet City. He took a few steps before turning on his heel, and looked back at me with an odd expression.

"You're taking the Gym Challenge, right?" He asked me.

"Yeah, I was planning on it, why?" I asked.

He shrugged, and with a smile said, "Just curious. I'm sure I'll see you again soon then." He turned back around, "Bye for now!"

I was kinda bummed out, watching him walk away. " _I came here for a reason,"_ I reminded myself, " _And it wasn't to travel with Morty."_ I walked to the door of the small house, but paused before I knocked on the door. Morty was still on my mind, " _What did you expect, him to stay with you the entire journey? He was just going to Violet City and you happened to need help."_

" _But what did he mean, 'I'll see you soon?"_ I knocked on the door, " _And why do I feel like this now that he's gone?"_

A man in a blue suit opened the door, "Hello, you must be Kyoko!"


	3. Chapter 3

"Hello, you must be Kyoko!"

The older man smiled down at me, but his smile was only partially visible on account of his bushy mustache. "Uh, yeah." I stammered as he moved from the door frame to let me inside.

"Welcome, young lady!" He exclaimed, closing the door, "Please, take a seat!" He motioned to the small wooden table in the center of the room, which already had another man in a lab coat sitting drinking something out of a mug. The table had two black boxes, two of which I didn't recognize but the second had a silver Silph Co. emblem stamped on the lid. The man in the lab coat smiled and gave a polite 'hello' as I sat down, but his brows furrowed as he examined me.

"Kyoko, I presume? What happened to your face?" The wrinkles on his face creased, giving him a older but wise look as he stared in concern.

"We were starting to think you weren't coming after all!" The man who opened the door confessed, sitting down across from me and beside the other man.

"I was attacked by a pokemon, but Nurse Joy cleaned it up, I'm fine now," I waved them off, "Sorry it took so long."

"Not a problem!" The man in the suit chuckled, "You're going out of your way as it is already, I won't rush you." He said with a smile. "I am Mr. Pokemon," He explained, "I apologize for making you come all this way, but as you see, I have company."

"I'm terribly sorry," The man who asked about my face broke in, "I am Professor Oak. I live in Kanto, so when I travel to different regions I try to get business done as efficiently as possible."

Mr. Pokemon clapped him on the back, "He studies the relationship between pokemon and people! He's an absolute expert in the bonds between a pokemon and it's trainer!"

"It's alright," I reassured them, "I don't live far away, it wasn't a long walk. And besides, it kinda gave me an idea of what traveling would be like."

"You are a kind young lady." He grinned, "I can see why Professor Elm wanted your help with his research." He paused, "Well then!" Mr. Pokemon exclaimed, "Let's get right to the point." He pushed forward the two black boxes, "These are for you!"

"What's in them?" I asked curiously. I pulled them towards me, but didn't open them.

"This has the starter pokemon you'll need, one for you and, if I recall correctly, a brother and a sister of yours?" Professor Oak elaborated.

"Yes sir, I'll take good care of them," I promised, looking down at it nervously.

"That's not all," Mr. Pokemon added, taking me by surprise. He picked up the box with the Silph Co. emblem on it, and slipped the top off the box before handing it to me. I took the box from his hand gingerly, but as I looked down I realized the only thing in the box was a small earpiece. It looked as if it could fit inside my ear, and I looked back to Mr. Pokemon for an explanation.

"This is called the Pokemon Communicator, or PokeComm for short." He explained.

"What does it do?" I asked, screwing it in my ear. It fit inside my ear, but it wasn't uncomfortable. It was snug, and had a hook to wrap around my ear to keep it from falling out.

"Almost any PokeSpeak can be translated with that device, it will be translated automatically as you hear it." He explained as I fiddled with it. "It was given to me to give to a trainer to do field research and test out the quality."

"This is by far Silph Co.'s best invention! It's just a prototype, and it isn't sold in stores yet. It's estimated to be priced extremely high." Professor Oak piped in. "This is also an excellent way to repay you for coming here, and it is beneficial for everyone involved."

"Oh, Sam!" Mr. Pokemon chuckled, and clapped him on the back. "Always looking at things from a professional standpoint!" He looked back to me, "All you have to do is call me every once in awhile and tell me how it's working."

"I can do that!" I chirped.

"Kyoko," Professor Oak stood up, "I have a very strong feeling this will not be the last time we meet!" He thought for a minute, then chucked, "But, I am an old man, and I could be going senile!"

"Maybe you should find an intern then, I hear Professor Elm's intern does all the work while Professor Elm sleeps!" Mr. Pokemon gossiped, but as much as I wanted to defend my Professor I knew it was probably true.

"He is a very intelligent man, regardless." Professor Oak said fondly, "I should return home. Kyoko, Laurence, thank you for spending some time with this old man. I have kept you both long enough, but I believe this young lady is eager to start her journey."

He helped me out of my chair, "Thank you Professor, my brother and sister are probably waiting for me." I replied, and picked up the box with the pokemon. "Thanks for everything!"

"I hope your travels go smoothly," Mr. Pokemon nodded from his chair.

"Great things are in your future, Kyoko." Professor Elm advised.

 **Break**

I fingered the black box in my jacket pocket, but despite the excitement I felt from the heavy weight in my pocket, the walk to New Bark Town was lonely. My mind kept drifting back to Morty, but I tried to convince myself it was only because he was kind enough to give me his jacket. Without him, or Gengar's wild behavior, traveling was dull, and as I walked past the Cherrygrove City PokeCenter where I got my wounds cleaned up, I couldn't help but worry if traveling would be like this _all_ the time.

I sighed, " _Maybe Hikari and Haru will travel with me,"_ I thought to myself. " _We've always stuck together despite how much we irritate each other, why wouldn't we now?"_ I questioned. I kept myself occupied by talking to myself as I strode down Route 29, but my mood perked up as I realized I knew where I was and that I would be home soon. My thoughts shifted from Morty and my loneliness to what pokemon I would pick, but I decided to go with what I originally wanted, a Cyndaquil. To be fair, I hadn't opened the box or any of the pokeballs, but the curiosity was killing me. I quickened my pace as I saw the small wooden sign indicating I was stepping into my hometown, and broke out into a full sprint to get to my house. I waved to a little girl who had just come home from pokemon school as I flung open the front door to our house and raced through it, surprising my entire family.

Hikari and Haru were sitting around the table talking and eating breakfast, and Mom was washing dishes in the sink as I stood on the couch and began nagging for everyone to get moving. Neither Hikari and Haru had stopped eating, but once Mom had had enough of my yelling she turned around, but gasped as she saw my change of clothes and scratched face. I was thankful the majority of my scratches were covered with my shirt, but she flew off the handle regardless.

"What happened?" She shrieked, running to stand under my on the floor. "What were you doing, I thought you were going to get your pokemon!" She reached up to me and gently touched a gash in my face, but I groaned and took the box out of my pocket.

"A pokemon just scratched me, it's no big deal. Here, I got the pokemon!" I tried to change the subject, but she wasn't buying it.

She frowned and snatched the pokemon out of my hand, then put it in the pocket of her apron. "Where did you get those clothes?" She asked, and then in a warning tone, "The truth, Kyoko." She crossed her arms, and her blue eyes stared up at me as I fumbled for a response.

"A pokemon attacked me and some guy helped me. The jacket is his, and the clothes are from the Nurse Joy in Cherrygrove City." I confessed, and the truth relaxed my mother.

"I'll pack some medical supplies in your bag. Go change into your own clothes, then you can pick out a pokemon, okay?" She finished, patting the box she took from me.

"I get to pick first!" I yelled, jumping off the couch and running to my room. Hikari and Haru both ignored me, but I didn't mind because I knew no one could resist Mom's pancakes. I twirled into my room, and dug through my closet until I found a few things to wear.

I grabbed a pair of black leggings that ended mid thigh, and a light blue sleeveless exercise top with a black stretchy band at the bottom that ended above my stomach. I had thrown Morty's jacket over my bed, but I decided to bring it along and pulled it over my shoulders. It was a nice reminder of the time we had with him, and I secretly hoped I would see him again and maybe return it to him. " _All set!"_ I thought happily, and all but skipped back to the kitchen.

"Can we _go now?"_ I begged, and finally got everyone's attention. Haru was sitting next to Mom, and looked up from his book before putting a bookmark in it and pushing it aside next to his plate.

"Oh, you're finally ready?" He said in a sarcastic tone, mocking my impatience. I glared and pulled the chair out across from him, and glanced over to see Hikari looking into a compact mirror and applying a thick layer of mascara on. She ignored me before snapping the mirror shut and narrowing her blue eyes.

"What? Fashion is important no matter where you are!" She whined, throwing the tube of mascara into her pink makeup bag, causing the contents to scatter on the table. I snorted, and rested my hand on my fist as I noticed everything about her outfit was fashionable, but not made for traveling. She wore a baby pink sleeveless shirt tucked under a high waisted purple skirt with a thick black belt wrapped around her waist. She had on a white cardigan, black ballet flats, and to finish the look off she had a pink bow expertly placed on the left side of her hair. Her lavender hair was expertly fluffed, and her bangs were hair sprayed to frame the right side of her face.

" _She's in for a rude awakening…"_ I thought, "You do know that stuff is probably going to get ripped, right?" I asked, but she waved a perfectly manicured hand.

"No it won't!" She pouted. "I'm more careful than you." She tapped her long nails on the table, "Just because we're traveling doesn't mean you can be lazy with the way you look. I mean come on, that jacket looks like it was made for a guy!" She cried out, grimacing at Morty's jacket.

"It _was."_ I informed her, and Mom broke into the conversation with a teasing grin.

"Some boy helped her on her way to pick up your pokemon and gave her his jacket." She giggled, and Hikari all but jumped on me in excitement.

"You finally met another guy besides Ethan? Was he cute? Oh, how romantic!" She gushed, strangling me with a hug. Her butt was no longer on her chair, she had pushed me completely horizontally on the chair and she shook me as she kept a stream of questions flying my way. "Where is he from can I meet him what does he do in his free time what kind of pokemon does he have what-" We both toppled to the ground, and landed on the wooden floor, knocking the air out of both of us.

"Honestly, are you two ever going to act your age? Hikari, you don't know the kid and probably never will. Kyoko, the pokemon you went almost two towns over for are sitting on the table and you're focused on some guy who isn't even here." Haru finally spoke up, and pushed his glasses up his nose for emphasis.

"Harsh," Hikari huffed as she sat up.

"He has a point, let's pick our pokemon!" I cheered, jumping back into my chair. Hikari scooted me over with her butt to take half my chair, and we both pushed each other to get the entire chair as Mom took the little box out of her apron pocket. We stopped our childish squabble as she placed the box in the middle of the table, but Mom had a sudden moment of fierceness. We had all reached towards the box, but she took the wooden spoon that was used to scoop homemade Oran Berry syrup out of a small tub and smacked out knuckles with it.

"Children!" She bellowed. We all shrunk back, and I licked the syrup off my knuckles as she sighed and calmed herself down. "Before you pick your pokemon and leave, I want to say something." She folded her hands together on the table, "I know I've kept you three here much longer than I should have," She began, lowering her gaze "But, your father isn't here… and I worry about you three. You get into so much trouble…" She sighed.

She pushed the box towards me, and smiled. "Go on Kyoko, you first. You've waited so long for this day, and I know you can do it." Her eyes pooled with tears as she smiled at me, but they weren't the same as they were earlier. She smiled, but her eyes were filled with pain as she lifted the top off of the box, revealing three shiny pokeballs.

"Why does Kyoko get to pick first?" Haru asked incredulously, but Mom shoved the syrup covered spoon in his mouth to quieten him, and smiled encouragingly at me.

"Go ahead," She requested. The rush of the adrenaline that came from choosing my first pokemon almost made me dizzy. A drop of water, a small flame, and a green leaf were stitched below each pokeball, I didn't even bother opening the pokeballs, or even really think about the decision. I grabbed Cyndaquil's pokeball and clutched it in my hand as I looked around the table, and saw three smiling faces. Even Haru managed to crack his stoic demeanor and smile slightly, before asking what I chose.

"A Cyndaquil," I beamed. "I'm just glad I got to get the pokemon I wanted."

"Actually," Mom started, a nervous smile creeping over her face, "I didn't tell you guys, but none of you wanted the same pokemon." She put her hand over her mouth and giggled at our reactions, but as I thought about it, I already knew what Hikari

and Haru wanted.

Curiously, Haru and Hikari both reached over to grab a pokeball, and Mom's giggling increased as they both took different pokeballs.

"Great!" Hikari cheered, "I wanted Chikorita," She proclaimed, and slipped the ball in her cardigan pocket.

"Totodile was my first choice as well." Haru put in.

"You three get along so well," Mom sighed, "I really will miss you three." She closed the box that had the pokeballs in, and stood up, "I have one more present for you three before you leave!" She said in a cheery tone to hide her sadness. She excused herself and ran off to her room, but she poked her head through the door and yelled for Haru to come help her.

"What could she possibly need?" He groaned, but stood up anyway and ran down the hallway. They both came back a minute later, Haru carrying two large shopping bags and Mom carrying one.

"You're going to think I'm the best Mom ever!" She squealed, handing Hikari the bag she had. Haru looked in both the bags he had before handing me the one in his right hand, then sat across from me to open his own.

"Wow, Mom!" Hikari squealed as she pulled a white leather crossbody traveling bag out of the shopping bag. Haru had a green backpack, and I pulled a large gray knapsack with a few different zippers and pockets inside. Along with the bag, there were various different potions, pokeballs, two new outfits, and a small case for Gym Badges.

"Mom, this is great!" I said incredulously, packing my new bag with the various traveling goods. There was a place for everything, and after I had packed everything I marveled at the fact that it was still incredibly light.

"Thank Haru, he went with me to the PokeMart to pick you up a few things." Mom patted him on the head affectionately. He paid her no attention, and packed up the book he was reading before zipping up his backpack.

"How can we travel without proper supplies?" Haru asked, tossing the bag over his shoulder and standing up. "We still need our PokeDex's from Professor Elm. Let's go." He ordered, motioning for my sister and I to get up.

Groaning, we both got up. Hikari pulled her bag over her head, and I strapped my own to the back as Mom began shooing us out of the door. "Go on, you guys need to get going." She opened the door, and stopped to pull us all into a hug. She sniffled, and wiped her eyes as the hug broke, "I know you've all be waiting years for this. It wasn't fair for me to keep you here, but, well… I'll explain it some day." She trailed off. "You can do this. And I know, whatever you do, you three will make me proud." She smiled sadly, and waved us all out of the door to hide her tears.

I looked back, and saw Mom leaning on the doorway of our small house. She watched us as we left, waving and now letting the tears flow freely now. Hikari tugged my arm to focus my attention in front of me, and even though my siblings were being impatient I was glad they didn't see what I did.

I didn't want them to see our Mother's heartbroken expression, I knew it would be etched in my mind for the rest of my life. But I had to keep going, before I rethought leaving New Bark Town.

"Hey, Kyoko, what are you waiting for?" Haru asked, looking down at me. I looked up at his angular face, his amber eyes waiting for an answer. We were at the entrance of the Lab, and both my siblings were waiting for my answer.

"Oh, nothing, just a little nervous I guess." I lied, still thinking about Mom.

"Well good!" Hikari giggled, and I felt Hikari and Haru put a hand on my back and push me through the doors.

"Let's go!"


End file.
